The present invention is directed to a puncture-resistant barrier pouch for the packaging of bone-in meat or other products having projecting parts or having parts that may be sharp, and in particular to a pouch having a body portion formed from a film that is relatively thick and that forms a product receiving chamber and having a neck portion that extends from an open end of the body portion that is formed from a heat sealable film that is relatively thin.
Bone-in cuts of meat often include sharp bones that protrude outwardly from the meat. When the bone-in meat is packaged the protruding bones often puncture or tear the packaging material. Two methods for vacuum packing bone-in meat have previously been used. The first method involves the use of a puncture-resistant material, such as a waxed cloth, which is placed over the bones protruding from the meat. The meat is then placed into a bag which is then vacuum sealed. This method is undesirable because of the potential for the cloth to move from its original position during loading of the meat into the bag, thereby leaving the protruding bone exposed. This method of packaging also provides undesirably low packaging rates because the puncture-resistant cloth must be hand placed over the bones.
The second previously used packaging method involves the use of a seamless heat sealable barrier bag. A patch of material which is more puncture-resistant than the barrier bag is adhered to the outside of the barrier bag. The neck of the barrier bag is left unprotected for the purpose of heat sealing the package after the bone-in meat is inserted. In this method the puncture-resistant patch is located on the outside of the barrier bag. The barrier of the package is compromised when a bone punctures the barrier bag. Even when the protective patch prevents a bone from piercing the entire wall of the package, it does not prevent the bone from puncturing the barrier bag. It is not economically feasible to adhere the puncture-resistant patch to the inside of the seamless barrier bag. In addition, the puncture-resistant patch does not completely cover the sides and the bottom edge of the barrier bag. This leads to a high number of package failures due to bone punctures in these unprotected areas. The puncture-resistant patch is opaque, which is undesirable as clarity of the package is important to meat packers and their customers. This type of existing pouch is also expensive to manufacture and use because it is produced using seamless bags made of heat shrinkable material.
Many users of these types of pouches utilize sealing equipment that uses impulse type seals to seal the opening of the pouch. An impulse seal relies on a quick burst of electricity to heat the film and seal the pouch. Many pouches are wrinkled in the seal area after being filled with the product. Thick films having wrinkles are extremely difficult to seal completely closed due to the limited ability of impulse seals to transfer heat through the films. A complete seal is important because of the vacuum package to be utilized.